8 Myths About Quitting Smoking

You know there are ridiculous amounts of health benefits associated with quitting smoking, but there are also a ton of misconceptions when it comes to actually kicking the habit. So if you or someone you know is hung up on one of these totally false beliefs, allow us to bust the myth so you can say goodbye to cigarettes for good!

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Myth #1: E-Cigarettes will help you quit.

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A new study by the University of California in San Francisco found that e-cigarettes are not as effective in helping smokers quit as you might think. The review of 82 studies looked at the impact e-cigarettes had on users and discovered that people who smoked the electronic cigs were actually less likely to quit smoking than people who never used them. Crazy, right? Read the truth about e-cigarettes here.

Don't want to invest in pricey patches and medications to help you quit? Well, if you do the math, you'll see that they will eventually pay for themselves when you're not constantly buying cigarettes, says Marc L. Steinberg, Ph.D., an assistant professor of addiction psychiatry. Plus, he says, if you have life insurance you will pay much less on your premiums as a non-smoker.

It's never too late to get the health benefits of being smoke free, says Steinberg. In fact, after just one year without cigarettes, a person can reduce their risk of heart disease by half, he says. And the benefits don't even take that long to kick in. Twenty minutes after quitting, your heart rate and blood pressure drop. And just 12 hours after your last cigarette, the levels of carbon monoxide in your blood stream normalize. Two to three months after quitting, you can look forward to your lung function and circulation improving.

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Myth #6: You Won't Be Able to Deal With Stress Without Smoking

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Although a lot of people smoke when they're stressed out, studies have shown that non-smokers are less anxious than smokers, and smokers who quit are less anxious than current ones, says Steinberg. So how did this myth get started? Steinberg says that when people are used to coping with stress by smoking, they might feel more anxious when they quit because they're not sure how to deal with their stress levels. But get this: Since nicotine is a stimulant, there's really no stress-reducing benefits that come with smoking. What might actually be de-stressing a smoker during a smoke break is simply getting away from their desk or a stressful situation and taking time to clear their head, which you can totally do sans cigs.

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Myth #7: You'll Lose Your Creative Edge at Work

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If you smoke to get a buzz before you get to work in the morning, you might not be doing yourself any favors. Even though you might feel that smoking gives you an edge or a jump on your work, smoking can actually keep you from working to the best of your abilities. Here's the thing, says Steinberg, smokers are more likely to take sick days and get sick more often in general, and if you're not at work or you're fighting a bug, you're not going to be as productive as you could be. Another bummer: Your boss and coworkers might resent the amount of smoke breaks you take because they could be keeping you from getting more work done, he says.

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Myth #8: You'll Lose Your Friends

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Obviously you won't be able to pop outside the bar on a night out for a cigarette, but Stenberg says that he's never had a patient say that they've lost friends after kicking the habit. Though trying to quit when you're friends are puffing away can be difficult, try to avoid situations with friends where they'll be smoking and schedule a group shindig that does not leave room for cigarettes. And don't settle for cutting back to just a "social smoker." Here, four major problems with social smoking.

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